Korean Food: Homemade Dumplings

So delicious and versatile, Korean Homemade Dumplings are fun to make and well worth the work! Korean Food: Homemade Dumplings!!

Continuing with my Korean food extravaganza. . . we made homemade mandoo or Korean dumplings today. This is a very traditional food to make and eat around this time of the year, especially on New Year’s Day. It takes a little more time obviously to make these, but it is so worth it.

After my daughter’s involvement and excitement over learning to make Kimbap, I wasn’t expecting that much at all with the dumplings . . but she LOVED it! My daughter, Phoebe, is 5 and it was so cute to watch. Phoebe even got creative with the shape of her dumplings and tried to create different ways to close the wonton wrappers. After we boiled and pan fried them, she happily reached for the ones that SHE made and said, “I made this!” I absolutely LOVED this.

Madeline, my 2 yr old, on the other hand – made a huge mess and tore more wonton wrappers (which made them un-useable) than we would have liked . . but this is to be expected when you let a 2 year old help out and join in on the fun. It was great!

Because the girls were eating these, we opted NOT to make the kimchi dumplings (which I LOVE). . but it’s ok, these were just as delicious. The girls like shrimp so we made dumplings with lean ground pork, shrimp, noodles and Korean chives. We usually add some tofu too but you have to squeeze the hell out of it and neither my mother nor I felt like doing that today.

So, we ate some, froze some and will be eating these -once the rest of my family arrives here in Dallas- when we make Duk Mandoo Guk. (Photo down below; recipe can be found by clicking on the link.) This is the traditional dish to make for Korean households on New Year’s Day. It’s tradition yo.

VARIATIONS ON THE MANDOO FILLING:

bean sproutsbut you must use a cheese cloth and squeeze all the water out; chopped

firm tofubut you must use a cheese cloth and squeeze all the water out

kimchi; finely choppedbut you must use a cheese cloth and squeeze all the liquid out

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients from the ground pork to the salt (see photos below). I highly recommend wearing disposable plastic gloves and using your hands to mix everything.

Get your mandoo assembly area ready with your mandoo wrappers, a bowl of water (or a slightly beaten egg or 2) and the pork/shrimp filling mixture.

Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the dumpling wrapper.

Dip your fingers in the water (or eggs) and wet the outside upper edge of the top half of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper to close and then crimp the edges. Alternatively, you can close the wrapper and then fold and bring the ends together to make a circle. Repeat until all the filling is gone.

Steam, boil or pan fry the dumplings and enjoy! You can also throw these into a Korean mandoo soup. You can freeze the dumplings for up to 3 months.

Here are all the ingredients for your mix or filling.

This is what it will look like AFTER you have mixed everything. Word of advice: use plastic disposable gloves and just get in there with your hands and mix.

Once you have your “work area” set up and everything is ready, you place about a little more than a tablespoon full of the mixture onto the wonton wrapper.

Some people like to make their dumplings fancy and make these little creases or pleats all the way around. This takes a little more time but sure is pretty! And for the Lunar New Year, the Chinese believe in a lot of pleats for their dumplings! A lot of pleats = good luck! Or “lucky” dumplings!

One of my very favorite, favorite foods!!!!! Did I tell you I really like Korean dumplings? With your recipe I guess I now have no excuse not to make them but my little Korean restaurant will sure miss me and the Baby Lady. 😉

dumplings are my all time fav food. I call them mo:mo in my language and use slightly different spices- worth every bite and its always a fun activity to do with young ones, although in the process you lose a lot of wrappers! happy holidays 🙂

Haha, YES! You are so right! We did lose a lot of wrappers b/c of my 2 yr old but I really wanted her to be at the table with us . . joining in on the fun! 🙂 I’d love to try your recipe!! Hint hint. . 🙂

Hi Candice,
It really depends on how you like your kimchi. I would recommend that you try different brands. . most Korean grocery stores carry their own brand, that they make at their store (in their kitchen) and it’s usually fresh. . but some stores carry both fresh and older kimchi (more fermented; some people like their kimchi this way (I am one of those people)) 🙂 Or you could ask someone at the Korean market to recommend one for you?
We sometimes buy our Kimchi from our local Costco b/c the Korean grocery store near us is about 40-45 minutes away. The one at Costco is more fermented and we like it. . so if you like more fermented kimchi, maybe you can try this one? Hope this was helpful!
As for the kimchi mandoo, all you have to do is add the cut up kimchi (that has been squeezed with a cheese cloth to get all the liquid out) to your mixture and the rest of the recipe is all the same. It’s listed above in the recipe card under “Variations on the mandoo filling”

So lovely! I never realized that I always order dumplings/ mandoo/ pot stickers each time we go to a restaurant until my friend pointed it out. So, this recipe definitely a must-try for me since…I have my hidden love for this. 🙂

I could eat mandoo every single day and be happy camper 🙂 Your homemade look absolutely amazing, I am craving it now…and mandoo soup looks so delicious, have to try making it soon! Have a wonderful New Year!!!!

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Meet Alice

Hello! My name is Alice. Here, at Hip Foodie Mom, you will find fresh food recipes using local, seasonal ingredients. From meat dishes to vegetarian to Asian inspired dishes, you are sure to find something you like. Thank you for stopping by!